Death in a Spell
by Perspicacious Loris
Summary: When Loki lands on Midgard, he didn't really expect to meet a Necromancer and get stuck in the middle of a small war between the Scandinavian Magical Society and Chicago's Necromancy Society. But he soon has a plan, one including his new Necromancer friends. Although, someone should have warned him Necromancers aren't really evil creeps like mortals think.
1. Chapter 1

A vacation in Costa Rica was just what Annabella-Natalie Eltiise needed after three years of constantly working. It was very relaxing to finally lie down, not immensely tired, and maybe tan a bit. Annabella's skin was a very bright white from working underground. A bit of vitamin D was just what she needed and wanted. Maybe a massage or two could be scheduled for later.

And suddenly- _poof_! Her dream vacation- _gone_! All because the Necromancy Society was a bunch of half wits who didn't know how to read her file, which declared she was on a well deserved vacation. And her shadow bracelets (why the _hell_ was she wearing those on vacation?) pulled her out from that amazing tanning chair and pulled her into the cold, dark, Necromancy Society.

The half witted idiot who called her in was standing outside of one of the interrogating rooms. He held a file containing a few pictures of where they found the strange man. He shivered. It was his first week here, and he was quickly agreeing with his father that working underground was not fun. But the salary was ten times better than Madrid and Topeka.

The woman he called for appeared, and the man thought she looked, well, it was nearly embarrassing to think about it, but very hot. She was wearing a two-piece sky blue swimsuit, which seriously showed her stomach. He felt her eyes on him, and thought he got a girl to like him with his good looks, but_ no_. This was Annabella Natalie Eltiise.

"Your tie is done wrong, and your shirt is untucked. It is supposed to be made out of linen or silk, not cotton. Your shoes are a fake brown leather and not polished. They are to be made from real black leather. Have you read the manual or not?" she spoke sharply. She caught him off guard.

"I only know how to do this type of tie, and I don't have enough money to buy better clothes," he said sheepishly, his cheeks flaming up. How unprofessional.

"That would be a four in hand knot, not a Windsor. On page 37 of the clothing part of the manual it shows you step by step directions to make a Windsor. On page 38, it tells you the Necromancy Society has a clothing department on the fourth floor. I recommend you go there and tell me why you called me here if I'm on _vacation_?"

Wait a moment… she wasn't on vacation! He checked- oh gods no, he didn't.

"You were the last name on the list, and everybody was on vacation, ma'am."

"So was I! And if you read the manual, you wold know you choose the person with the smallest amount of time left for their vacation to minimize costs. I had thirteen days left, you idiot!"

He was silent. He _had_ not read the manual. The genius girl caught him red handed and pointed out his mistakes. That's why she was an interogattor.

"Well, ma'am, since you're here, can we get started on the interrogation?"

"I'm wearing a _swimsuit_!"

"Can you do the fancy snap-your-fingers-and-clothes-appear-trick?" he asked. This would be coming out of his paycheck. Might as well ask nicely to minimize the cost. Luckily, the woman snapped her fingers and a black shirt, combat boots, and black skinny jeans appeared on her body. That was good.

"Okay, so what's the deal here?" she asked. He gave her the file and she looked through it.

"What's your name?"

"Hubert Landager."

"Research these circles and send me the file on Norse gods."

"Norse?"

"You know what? I'll finance one of the more advanced courses on identification by clothing for you. Just send me the file and shut up."

* * *

Annabella already knew what the circles were called, and had suspicions on who the man was. She knew the clothing was Asgardian not because she took a special course on clothing identification. She knew that because of her friend in the Scandinavian Magical Society, Kjerstin, an investigator in one of its facilities that barely any of the workers in the main divisions knew about. It was a secret lab right behind the offices. Actually, half of the people employed to work as secretaries were members of it. And what was it?

Inter-Realm Affairs. The IRA. Dealing with real Norse gods. Interacting with them. Making sure there wasn't about to be a huge inter-realm war. They knew more about other realms than, as she hated to admit it, Annabella. So she sought out to get an informant. It was her little birdie, Kjerstin. And every now and then, Kjerstin would slip a bit of information to Annabella. One of the last few bits was a picture of the Asgardian court. And near the unmistakable crossing-his-arms Thor stood his brother, Loki. Stuck out like a sore thumb. Lean, not muscular. A bit taller than average. Colors of sorcery, not strength. Hiding. Staying in the shadows. The outfit the man in the room was a bit different than the one in the picture, but it was still very similar. Made to conceal weapons, not to show them off for all the world to see. The last piece of information was the Bifrost was shattered and Loki, a man in the very room she was going to, fell. Only idiots would do that intentionally. But he wasn't an idiot, or half wit. He clearly was rethinking his life, for the worse. And Annabella wanted a tidbit of information, from what she could build a castle of evil plans.

She opened the door and sat down in the wooden chair. On the other side sat Loki. No time to spare, she though. The faster this is done, the faster I'm back to Costa Rica.

"Hello, Loki. What brings you to Midgard?" she said to the stranger. His jaw unclenched and his face muscles shifted. Hidden surprise.

"Who are you?" he asked her venomously. His eyes began to glare at her.

"Annabella Natalie Eltiise, Aedile of the Necromancy Society. Now that we are done with the formalities, may we proceed? It would be such a waste if this conversation did not profit either of us."

"Necromancy? How peculiar."

"I would agree that is the one word to describe it. To answer the questions you dare not ask, no, I, myself, am not completely human, but my colleagues are. Humans had magic for millenniums. Not only do we have magic, but our intellectual capacity has always been higher than other Midgardians. At first, there was only one type of magic, we simply call it Magik, as it was written in the old spell books, with a k at the end, not c. As mentioned, we were smarter than other humans, so we broke off into smaller groups to spread magic and find better magical conditions, each group with their own copy of a Magik book. From this book, spell books were formed, but each group ended up specializing in a specific type of Magik. I happen to be half-Necromancer, quarter-Sorceress, and quarter-Ice Magician, a late form of Water Elementum. You are know familiar to three of the groups. There are Elementums, Fire, Water, Earth, and Air, which have their own subgroups. There are the Charmers, quite weak yet needed, since the spells they preform are elementary but powerful. We have the Seers, or Prophets, depending on which book you are reading. They are needed greatly, for the simple reason they see the future clearly. There are Sorcerers, native to Scandinavia, Poland, and Germany. In Poland, Germany, and most of Europe, excluding Russia and the British Isles, we find the Elementums, mentioned before. In most of Spain and Portugal, we have Alchymists, which are simply alchemists, though Alchymists is the official name. My main and home group, Necromancers, which are found in only Chicago, Topeka, Madrid, and Krakow, make sure there is order in the Underworld and the spirits do not escape to the ousted world. I hope this clears up any questions you had about how we happen to have magical powers."

Loki was clearly shocked now. He didn't even try to hide his surprise. And Annabella knew that with surprise came curiosity. Curiosity is her advantage.

"May I see this 'Necromancy Society'?"

She can't refuse. Now that she has his interest, her job is too easy.

* * *

The Necromancy Society was immense. It was under the Willis Tower (yet no real Chicagoan called it that, as Annabella told Loki) but it was one square mile big, touching Lake Michigan and having a concert hall under Millennium Park. It went down over a mile. Overall, it was a cube box located under Chicago.

Annabella first took Loki to her office. Loki admired the mortal's taste in designing the room. She had a large glass wall (someone could barely call it a window) looking over the Atrium of the Necromancy Society. In the center of the Atrium was a series of high speed elevators leading up to the upper world. In the back of the room stood a dark desk with organized papers and a nameplate. There were diplomas hung behind the desk and pictures underneath them. On the walls where there was nothing stood large book shelves full of books and magazines. In the center of the room, facing the glass wall, was a glass coffee table surrounded by black leather couches. Different than what he was used to, but still amazing.

Loki grabbed the most recent magazine there was on the shelf to learn a bit more about this strange world. To his surprise, Annabella was on the cover, along with a man who shared her eyes, but had blond hair and was about an inch taller. The name of the magazine was The Necromancy Journal. He opened to the page where there was said to be a special on the man and Annabella.

Annabella, as it turns out, happens to have more power than Loki originally thought, and he though she had more than average. According to the article, the man on the cover was her cousin, Augustus Maxwelby, the second Aedile of the Necromancy Society. Augustus and Annabella apparently both finished advanced schooling at age six, making them the smartest children ever. They both knew out thirty languages and had powers of Necromancy, Ice Magic (Loki was quite fond of this), and Sorcery, but Annabella was different. He learned the reason right after checking who Hades was, and Annabella walking in.

She's a demigod. Probably the most important one.

"To the right, you have idiots. To the left, you have idiots who make people into idiots by writing idiotic crap about them. Most call them journalists or something like that. We are heading to the main offices, which is overflowing with idiots who believe anything you put in a magazine or on a notice board. It's quite humorous if you know how to use it to trick them. Want to see something actually interesting that doesn't include as many idiots?"

Apparently, Annabella found everyone to be an idiot. Loki couldn't agree more. He heard a few jokes and glimpsed some some websites (as Annabella would say, 'scarred for life') he agreed with her about human stupidity. It would make his conquest much easier.

He agreed and she lead him to the elevators.

"Well, don't get offended by this, but you can't go outside like that," he looked down at his robes, and he secretly agreed.

"So, I'll teach you a trick. Just think the word 'Haveridan'."

Haveridan, he thought, and his clothing transformed into something more suitable to walk outside in. When he looked at Annabella, her clothes were already changed into a black overcoat and her hair was in a bun.

"That is quite useful," he said.

"I guess since you're from Asgard, you use different spells from ours. If you want me to teach you some, just ask," Annabella walked over to the elevator and Loki followed. This mortal is quite useful, he decides. Maybe he'll let her live.

* * *

Annabella looked at her phone and cursed in Latin.

_Annabee, Hevvie's is in ashes. The minions are turning._

Just perfect. An attack? Amazing. Her phone beeped again and she checked the new message. From Kjerstin.

_Hide everything. SMS is pissed you have Loki. Prepare for war._

Loki looked up when Annabella threw her phone down.

"Spectacular!" she yelled. "_Ire mori in foramine_, Scandinavia!"

"What is it?" Loki asked.

"Come on," she said, "we're late for war council. Scandinavia declared war on us for stealing their god."

* * *

I know, I know. Loki is wayyyyy to calm. But he just found out there's a freaking Necromancy Society and some puny mortals have magical powers, he wants to make the best impression if he wants their help.


	2. Chapter 2

Even though Loki didn't get to see what Annabella was going to show him, he got to see the War Council. It was much better organized than the one on Asgard.

"Surrender all weapons," said a strange automat. Annabella started taking out a number of weapons, including several knives, hidden swords that grew larger as she took them out, a few mortal weapons, and a ring. The automat touched the small gem and a huge spike hit him in the face. Annabella smiled.

She sat down in a chair next to the blond man from the magazine (Augustus, Loki remembered) and he smiled at her. They started talking about the issue at hand and Annabella looked even more shocked. She then took out some type of book and began to write in it.

A few more people shuffled into the room, conversing with each other. Loki heard parts of the conversation.

"Eltiise is going crazy. Must be 'cause of the Ieryan Wall."

"You're an idiot for thinking that. She's a genius! And you saw how she did with the Munich issue."

"Yeah, she's not crazy. She's just abnormally antisocial and powerful."

"Who's the guy with her?"

"I have no idea. Rumor is Eltiise sent Landager to research Norse gods and Ieryan circles."

"Norse? Is that why Scandinavia is mad at us?"

"From what I heard, yeah."

Loki turned his attention to Annabella, who stood up and was standing in front of the room now.

"Some of you heard rumors. I will confirm what I can. This morning, I was rudely called in while just starting my vacation by a new researcher, Hubert Landager, who had given me a file on a strange man who randomly fell out of the sky on a freaky-looking circle. But this is magic. We know better," she started, and showed some pictures of the circle on a large screen.

"Thanks to my informant in the Scandinavian Magical Society, I was able to identify the strange man, who happens to be Loki, god of mischief and lies in Norse mythology, who was rumored to have a part in the shattering of the Bifrost." She turned to Loki, "Am I correct?"

"Yes."

"So our Norse god fell from the Bifrost into space. My guess is he flew around realms hopelessly for a while, as the event happened last April, and it is January. Continuing with the story, I was planning on taking him to the Underworld and familiarize him with our world. I then got a message from Maxwelby that Hevvie's Bookstore was attacked and the seemingly harmless minions that lived in the streets of the Underworld were turning to the bad side. Just a few seconds later, I got a message from my informant that Scandinavia was mad we got one of their gods. They also have declared war on us as of fifteen minutes ago."

"So we're fucked?" someone said from the middle of the table.

"Just about right, Ruxton."

"Why's that?" a new member of the War Council asked. Annabella pulled up a map of the world.

"This is Scandinavia," she said, highlighting Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and the Faeroe Islands. "This is the CNS." This time, she zoomed into Chicago and highlight the Chicagoland area.

"They have about three million Sorcerers. We have about two hundred fifty thousand Necromancers. We're outnumbered twelve to one. When you count in the fact some of us and some of them won't be fighting, it's maybe eight to one. At least we have better tacticians and Sparta-style training. They have alright schools and ban hitting children. The odds are technically against us, but look at the 300 battle."

"All but one died."

"Sparta lost."

"Yeah, but it kicked ass. Now, we don't only have people. They have the purple and grey herons, we have bloodthirsty monsters, a god of the dead, a goddess of flowers and springtime, the god of travelers and thieves, the goddess of war strategy and knowledge, and the god of war on our side. Maybe a god of mischief and lies. Possibly a goddess of night if Faywit would speed up the process."

"And who are we talking about?"

"Hades, Persephone, Hermes, Athena, and Ares. They all support us. If Loki agrees, we've got a trickster. If Faywit would stop being so lazy, I could become the goddess of night next week."

"Then I guess we're giving Faywit a call," Augustus smirked.

"And maybe a threat," Annabella added. "Or an ally."

* * *

"We just got thrown out of the Magical Union," someone said as they walked in and slammed down a large file. Annabella chocked on her coffee.

"What the _fuck_?" she yelled and her coffee cup fell out of her hand. "Madrid, Topeka, and Krakow also, I bet?"

"Yeah!"

"Give Krakow a call and tell them to assemble. Munich is going down. Scandinavia has all those allies because of the Union. Let's take their precious Union away from them. How's the Faywit Mission going?"

"Faywit agreed, but it's gotta be hush-hush. Y'know, Faywit's supposed to stay neutral. Adding a goddess to our army is kind of favoring the Necromancers."

"Half of them are Shadows. They're descended from us, idiots," Annabella spit out.

* * *

The War Council had been transformed in five hours. It was nighttime, but none of the Council members were leaving, since any major news couldn't be missed. The only time a member could leave was if they were dealing with missions or the like or if they seriously needed to shower or use the bathroom. The chairs were like first class plane seats: they could transform into beds. So while half the Council was snoring, the rest was drinking way to much coffee.

"Get me the pharmacopoeia," Annabella said, although it was more of slurred. The coffee's effects were wearing off, no matter how much she drank. When she got the book, she searched through it and found what she was searching for.

"Get me ten pounds of _necroslapen vaka_," she told a man and he placed an order for it. That should keep them awake, she thought as she drifted to sleep.

"Eltiise, we need your help," a man shook her awake.

"No," she replied.

"There's an Eltiise in the Scandinavian Society!"

"Well of course. I'm quarter Sorceress."

"She's the President!"

That was enough to wake Annabella.

"And how did we miss that?"

"She changed her last name to Pulcher."

"Beautiful? I don't think so. What's her full name?"

(A/N: Google tells me puncher means beautiful in Latin…)

"Natalia Auriola Juliet Pulcher. Previously Natalia Eltiise, but she felt the need to spice up her name, and at forty three, she became the president of SMS."

"I call dibs on killing her. Throwing me in the ocean wasn't that nice," Annabella said through her teeth and nearly getting her weapon and walking into her office right now.

"Annabee, if you do that, we'll be blamed for the war," Augustus warned her. "And we've got bad news."

"What is it?" Annabella asked.

"The Seers are allied with Scandinavia," he told her.

"That's illegal!" a member of the War Council yelled.

"Yeah, so is declaring war over lost gods!" Annabella countered. "Are the other Necromancy Societies allied with us?"

"Yeah, and all of Poland and Germany joined us. The Alchymist Foundation is making a lot of healing potions for us."

Well, maybe the losses were turning. Nearly everyone had a grudge against Norse Sorcerers.

* * *

"We're assembling the army in Krakow," the head of the War Council, an old man named John Greggors, informed the council. Annabella immediately objected.

"The Sorcerers are allied with the Seers, sir. They'll only fight the battles they'll win. We need to convince Apollo to give them some fake information, and eventually, the Sorcerers will fight every battle. But if we don't convince Apollo, we can surrender right now. It's a paradox." Many people nodded to Annabella's statement. Even Loki found himself admiring her knowledge and power in the Council.

"You're right, Eltiise. What do you suggest we do?" he nodded along with the others. "Call Athena, I will not do that myself, ask Ares for a blessing, and bribe or blackmail Apollo to give the Seers fake visions."

"How are we going to do that?" Augustus said.

"Athena is on our side, Ares owes me and is on our side, and I have an embarrassing picture of Apollo that's got more enchantments on it than the Ieryan Sceptre. It's quite easy. I'm sure Apollo would love to hang out with his half brother, anyways."

"Oh no! Last time, he nearly took me to the sun! He's senile!"

Annabella sighed annoyingly. "You're senile! He sees people die in the future- mainly his friends and family- and knows he can't do anything to change it! He looks at that person, and knows what will happen to them. He sees how they'll die, and you said it yourself last year! He's the nicest god there is! Why? He sees a person's future, knowing they have friends, maybe a family, or children waiting at home. And he knows how they'll die. They might die in the next ten minutes, but he can't tell that person. He's seen that for millennia. Don't judge a person on if they're crazy or not!"

"Well, you are! He should get used to it! I'm not talking to him ever again! He gets this creepy look in his eye when he looks at me!" Augustus yelled back at her. She glared and prepared her argument.

"Judging a person," she said, "does not say anything about that person. It only says something about you!"

"Philosophical quotes now? Why not quote Augustus Caesar? He's better!" he retorted. He regretted it, since Annabella's quote was actually really good.

"Is that the best you can do? I'm not surprised, actually! You're worthless anyways! Your father regrets he had you!" Annabella yelled. That hit him. Hard.

"What about you, Death Breath? You're a creep! You'd rather talk with some old ghosts than with living people! And do you want me to bring up the fact _your mom threw you in a garbage bag and into the ocean_?"

"Do you want me to bring up the fact your dad tried killing you because he didn't want a Necromancer for a son?"

"Why not? After all, your mom didn't really want a daughter of Hades in her house anyways!"

Both of them turned away from each other and crossed their arms. Annabella didn't regret a single word she said, because Augustus was seriously over reacting about Apollo. Although, Augustus did. He didn't know it, but Annabella agreed with him abbot the overreacting part, but not regretting. Annabella never regretted anything.

After a long moment of uncomfortable silence around the War Council table, Landager burst into the room, looking scared.

"Sir," he addressed Greggors, "Hades is here! Lady Athena too!"

Mortals, when writing down myths, made many mistakes. For one, Persephone was Athena's daughter, that was raised in the care of Demeter. Athena was married Hades. The gods rarely fought and didn't discriminate each other based on magical powers. They only exited their castles on rare occasions.

This was one.

Hades himself was there. Most of the time, he would send a messenger. But now, he was here. With his wife.

This was bad for Annabella. She never really met her father, but he would occasionally send some help or a gift, like Annabella's knife. That was it. But if Athena was here, it would be bad. Annabella was, after all, a child Hades had with another woman.

"I'm out of here. I don't feel like being blown apart today," she said as she ran out of the room. Bad choice. Hades and Athena were walking that way.

"Annabella, am I correct?" Athena asked and looked Annabella over.

"Yes, Lady Athena," Annabella nearly shook.

"The girl that finished Doreen in two months?"

"Yes."

"Good, my blessing wasn't wasted."

Annabella almost started laughing from relief. Athena continued walking, her ceremonial toga floating behind her. Annabella decided to walk behind her.

"Is it true you are harboring the Norse god of mischief, Loki?"

"Yes, Lady Athena."

"Release him right now. Get rid of him. He need to go, now!"

"Why?" Annabella asked. She regretted it.

"You are not affected by it, for your magic is more powerful than others, but he rids everyone of their magic if he touches them. He already is doing it by not touching anyone."

"So we just drop him in the Scandinavian Center and let him do his work?"

"No. He must go! Now!"

No one realized he went the moment Annabella and Augustus fought. No one realized he took Hades with him.

No one realized he took Landager and Augustus, either.

Now they did.

And all Annabella could do was sob.


End file.
